The University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMass Lowell) and Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) are committed to fostering productive and sustainable interdisciplinary research collaborations among our faculty and students. We are pleased to provide seed funding to teams of researchers from both institutions. These projects will promote synergistic collaborations that align with and advance the strategic priorities of the UMass Lowell and FGCU research communities, leading to external funding, industry partnerships, and entrepreneurial activity.
Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) priority areas were:
- Energy
- Resilience
- Artificial intelligence (AI)
- Finance
- Economic Development
Funding Amount and Award Period
In FY26, UMass Lowell (UML) and FGCU awarded five (5) collaborative projects at up to $20,000 each. Exactly half of each awarded project’s budget was allocated to each university (for example, $10,000 to UML, $10,000 to FGCU). Each institution was responsible for the costs incurred by its own participants. Funds were awarded for a 12-month period.Application Deadline
The deadline for FY26 proposals has passed.
Check back for details regarding potential future cycles.
Eligibility
- All full-time tenured/tenure-track faculty at UMass Lowell and ranked faculty at FGCU are eligible to participate.
- Proposing teams must include faculty members from both UMass Lowell and FGCU. The lead principal investigator (PI) may come from either institution, or the team may choose to have co-PIs, one from each institution.
- An individual faculty member may serve as the lead PI on one proposal and co-PI on one additional proposal.
- PIs from UMass Lowell are eligible to apply even if they already hold an active internal grant from UMass Lowell’s Office of Research Development (ORD).
General Timeline
- September – Announcement of call for proposals
- November – Proposal deadline
- November/December - Proposal review
- December – Notification of decision to applicants
- February – Disbursement of funds (12-month award period)
Deliverables
Awardees are required to submit a final report outlining activities and outcomes no later than 12 months after the project end date. Instructions for the report will be provided near the end of the award period.